Monthly Archives: August 2013

In an increasingly mobile economy, retailers are tasked with learning how to engage with smartphone shoppers in effective ways, whether it’s in stores, at home or on the go. As a result, retailers need to understand how shoppers use mobile devices to interact with their brands, especially during the year’s second biggest shopping season — Back-to-School.

In our recent report, Back-To-School Shopping Trends, we uncovered 7 ways that back-to-school shoppers are turning to their smartphones to engage with retailers throughout the shopping experience.

#1 Get Coupons and Discounts

Almost half of parents will use their smartphone to find deals, discounts and coupons for the back-to-school season, ranking as the most popular smartphone behavior. This begs the question – how available are you making your deals to mobile users? The popularity of this activity suggests a great way to drive customers through your aisles, offering a cost-effective option to complement or even replace print advertisement deals.

#2 Compare Prices While In-Store

The use that haunts every brick-and-mortar retailer—nearly 2 in 5 parents will use their smartphones to compare prices while in a physical retail store to those online during this year’s back-to-school season. We took a deep view into showroomingearlier this year to find out which retailers should be on high alert.

#3 Access a Retailer’s Website or App

Connecting with a retailers’ website or app ranked third and highlights the near necessity of an easy to navigate mobile site or app for today’s retailers.

#4 Find a Store Location

How easy is it for your shoppers to find out your location and hours? Our panelists ranked it as the 4th most popular way to use their phone, especially while on the go.

#5 Make/Reference a Shopping List

Taking the shopping list digital, 31% of parents planned to use their phones to make and refer to shopping lists. Retailers such as Targetare building shopping lists into their apps to further engage with consumers in the purchase planning phase.

#6 Get Product Information

Nearly 1 in 4 parents will use their mobile phone to look up product information, highlighting the need for retailers to make information such as price, availability and item specifics easily accessible for information-seeking consumers.

#7 Make a Purchase

1 in 5 parents plan to use their smartphone to make a purchase during the back-to-school season, underscoring the importance of having not only a mobile-optimized shopping experience, but a mobile-optimized buying experience as well.